Puretech protests

[tontonjon]

Hello everyone. This is not just for Citroën, but anyone with a 1.2 PureTech engine.

There has been talk on another forum I am a member of about the premature failure of the internally housed cam belt and subsequent catastrophic damage to the engine. Many consider this to be a design fault and that the manufacturer, Stellantis, ought to do something about it, especially if it makes PureTech-engined cars less desirable and therefore less valuable. Some owners have voiced concern that even franchised dealers might refuse to buy back cars if they are not able to sell them on.

Two links in French about recent events on the continent follow.

https://www.autojournal.fr/economie/mot ... tml#item=1
https://www.auto-moto.com/en-bref/enerv ... ntis-29772

I'm posting here as I cannot find a related thread to this topic. In short, replace cam belts according to the service schedule (6 years or 56000 miles, I think... OK for both my cars at present). The first sign of trouble may be a warning light - which could be the oil level, but could also be a blockage caused by pieces of the cam belt. If in any doubt, especially if you have not had a cam belt changed recently, doing nothing more than checking and topping up the oil carries a risk.

There are many views about how idiotic it is to put a rubber cam belt inside the engine and let it run soaked in oil, so I won't mention that here...

[GiveMeABreak]

It's a well-known issue. Stellantis are not recalling all affected vehicles yet, but they are monitoring the belts at each annual service for signs of damage.

Most of these EB2 engines have the first belt change at 62.5k miles, but you should check your service info for your own cars. Of course, it goes without saying that if you have your vehicle serviced outside the dealership network, it is not something your independent mechanic may be aware of or will check for at each service. This being the case you should be aware that any incidents at a later date my not be eligible for any dealer-contribution.

Most servicing is now annual if sooner that the mileage limit.
Also check for the correct grade of oil, as this has been changed in light of the issues, so again get the most up to date info for your own vehicles.

Ford also have a similar issue with their Eco-boost engines and are in the process of recalls. It was a big issue in the USA, but I think they are not calling them in for remedial work.

[tontonjon]

My independent garage owner always checks the service schedule of my car when it goes in. He also has a large stock of the correct grade engine oil. I might get him to check the belt when the car is in on Wednesday, just in case.

Some of those whose engines have broken only used franchised dealers.

I read that newer vehicles are less affected after changes were made - to the oil, the belt or both? - but I am not counting on that assumption!

[CitROeNALD]

Did citroen put out any recalls for 1.2 puretech belts?

I ask this because a neighbour of mine has a 2017 1.2 puretech c4 grand.

Out of curiosity I checked their registration details, as also have c4 grand, I was purely curious about the car age etc.

The first thing I noticed that it is now 7 years old, nearly 50k, but also that it has an outstanding recall.

Now, my thinking is, if their mechanic has not picked up on the recall, they may not be aware of the belt issue.

I can't see what the recall is as I did not look at their VIN, but.....should I make them aware of the belt issue, as a courtesy?

[GiveMeABreak]

They did put out what is termed an 'After Sales Campaign' for some engines with certain build dates for the check of, and replacement of the belt where necessary, but these were not actual 'recalls' and did not apply to all affected engines. It will be vehicle-specific whether anything is flagged up on the system (the same system we use for live data for donating members) and I routinely advise members if anything is flagged up when sorting their part number requests.

This is still an issue for new vehicles - because of the nature of the system, with many versions still having a 62.5k mile belt change, before falling back to a longer change afterwards.

Again independent mechanics will not get any notification of this unless they have an independent repairer account with the Stallantis system for each marque.